Calcite with Barite, Sphalerite

specimen number:
8911214

location:
Elmwood complex, Smith Co., Tennessee, USA

description:
A neat multisided specimen, the showing a crystallized matrix less cluster of white barite, one side scattered attractively with light amber colored gemmy scalenohedral crystals of calcite measuring to 0.5 cm in size. The opposite side is halfway covered with lustrous slightly translucent crystals of black sphalerite to 0.5 cm in size. In super condition all around. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection.

The Elmwood complex, comprising primarily of the Elmwood, Gordonsville, and Cumberland Mines, in Smith County, Tennessee, is situated within Paleozoic carbonate rock formations where mineralizing hydrothermal brines circulated through ancient, open solution cavities, faults, and breccia zones. Originally developed for industrial underground mining starting in the 1970s, the facility gained global renown among mineral collectors because miners recovered world-class crystal specimens from vugs and cavities intersected during operations. While the complex has experienced intermittent commercial closures and changes in corporate ownership over the decades, it remains a legendary locality celebrated for producing some of the finest aesthetic mineral crystals ever discovered.

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